The present invention relates to a machine for packaging a pile of paper products, such as serviettes, towelettes, handkerchiefs and the like. More precisely, the present invention regards a machine according to the preamble of claim 1, which is known from the Italian patent No. 1240548. The above document describes a packaging machine for paper serviettes or the like comprising a mobile-drawer device, which moves with reciprocating motion in a longitudinal direction between a position of reception of a pile of products and a position of release. The drawer device comprises a bottom plate and a top plate, which are mobile with respect to one another between a position of insertion of a pile of products and a position of closing.
In the known machine described in the aforesaid Italian patent No. 1240548, during operation, the top plate moves cyclically with respect to the bottom plate with a travel having a constant extent, and adjustment means are provided for varying the distance between the top plate and the bottom plate in the closing position, i.e., the minimum distance between the top plate and the bottom plate. The purpose of this adjustment is to compensate for the variations in thickness of the pack which are due to a variation in the thickness of the products to be packaged. The mechanism described in the Italian patent No. 1240548 enables adjustment of the minimum distance between the top plate and the bottom plate, whilst the machine is running. The way in which the mechanism that controls movement of the top plate with respect to the bottom plate maintains, instead, always constant the extent of the travel of the top plate with respect to the bottom plate between the insertion position and the closing position of the drawer device.
The major drawback of the solution according to the prior art lies in the fact that, when the distance between the top plate and the bottom plate of the drawer device is varied, the height of the packs that are packaged inevitably varies also. Consequently, even though the number of products contained in each pack remains unvaried, if the thickness of the individual products varies, the aforesaid known packaging machine produces packs of different heights.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a packaging machine of the mobile-drawer type that is not affected by the aforesaid drawback.
According to the present invention, this purpose is achieved by a machine having the characteristics that form the subject of the main claim.
According to the present invention, the above purpose is achieved by a machine having the characteristics that form the subject of the main claim.